Scheduling and payment systems and methods

ABSTRACT

The present systems and/or methods generally facilitate scheduling and/or payment of a service provider. In one embodiment, the scheduling system is integrated with a payment system and configured for use with childcare providers and childcare requestors (i.e., parents). In this embodiment the providers upload their schedules onto an online database via a website. The parents may then browse the available providers for a specific time and date at which the parents desire childcare services. The parents may select a specific time and date to create a booking request, which the website may then forward to the childcare provider. The childcare provider may accept the booking request, and the parent is notified of same. The parent may be billed for the services through the website and the childcare providers may be paid through the website so that no funds are exchanged directly between parents and childcare providers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from and is a continuation ofU.S. Pat. No. 13/165,119 filed on Jul. 02, 2012, which applicationclaimed priority from provisional U.S. Pat. App. No. 61/503,577 filed onJun. 30, 2011, all of which applications are incorporated by referenceherein in their entireties.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an internet-based scheduling andpayment systems.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

No federal funds were used to develop or create the invention disclosedand described in the patent application.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISK APPENDIX

N/A

AUTHORIZATION PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. §1.171 (d)

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright and trademark protection. The copyrightowner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of thepatent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patentand Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyrights whatsoever.

TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

Before the various embodiments of the present invention are explained indetail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of construction and the arrangements ofcomponents set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that phraseology and terminology used herein with referenceto device or element orientation (such as, for example, terms like“front”, “back”, “up”, “down”, “top”, “bottom”, and the like) are onlyused to simplify description of the present invention, and do not aloneindicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have aparticular orientation. In addition, terms such as “first”, “second”,and “third” are used herein and in the appended claims for purposes ofdescription and are not intended to indicate or imply relativeimportance or significance. Furthermore, any terminology related tocomputer executable methods, web portals, web-based applications, and/orwebsites recited or called out herein are for exemplary purposes onlyand are not meant to limit the scope of the invention in any way unlessso recited in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the various embodiments of the present inventions are explainedin detail, it is to be understood that the present invention is notlimited in their application to the details of applications and/orparameters set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The present invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Operationalparameters included herein are for illustrative purposes only, and in noway limit the scope of the present invention. The following detaileddescription is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying outillustrative embodiments of the invention.

Detailed Description of a General Scheduling and Payment System

The scheduling system generally includes at least one database ontowhich at least one provider may upload a time block. The database may beremotely accessed, such as via the internet. In one embodiment, thedatabase resides on a server that may be accessed through a web portal(e.g., a web-based application), such as by using a computer, smartphone, or similar equipment.

A requestor may access the database to view at least one time blockuploaded to the database by a provider. It is contemplated that oneembodiment of the scheduling system will include multiple time blocksfrom multiple providers. In such an embodiment, each provider andrequestor will be provided with a unique username and passwordcombination. The requestor may select an increment of a time block, orthe entire time block. For example, if the provider has uploaded a timeblock of seven consecutive days onto the database, a requestor mayselect all seven days, one day, three days, and so on.

Once the requestor has selected an increment of a time block, thescheduling system automatically creates a booking request for theprovider corresponding to that time block. The scheduling system may usea computer to generate the booking request, such as a sever. It iscontemplated that the server on which the database resides may beprogrammed to generate the booking request, and that in one embodimentof the scheduling system and payment system as described herein, thescheduling and/or payment systems may be implemented as machine-readablemethods such that the scheduling system and/or payment system may beimplemented as a web-based computer application.

As part of creating the booking request, the scheduling system may alertthe provider corresponding to the time block in which the bookingrequest is found that a requestor has selected that specific incrementof time. The scheduling system may alert the provider in any suitablemanner, including but not limited to a telephone call, an electronicmail message, a wireless message, a text message, and/or anycombinations thereof. When the scheduling system alerts the provider ofthe booking request, the scheduling system may give the provider manytypes of information, including but not limited to the time and date forwhich the requestor desires the provider's services, the address atwhich the requestor desires the provider's services, name and age ofrequestor, special comments about the services, contact information ofthe requestor such as phone number and email address, and/orcombinations thereof.

After the provider has received the booking request, the provider maychoose to accept or decline the booking request. If the provider acceptsthe booking request, the scheduling system may notify the requestor ofsame in any suitable manner, including but not limited to a telephonecall, an electronic mail message, a wireless message, a text message,and/or any combinations thereof If the provider declines the bookingrequest, the scheduling system may notify the requestor of same in anysuitable manner, including but not limited to a telephone call, anelectronic mail message, a wireless message, a text message, and/or anycombinations thereof If the provider accepts the booking request, thenthe scheduling system may automatically update the database so that theperiod of time corresponding to the booking request is removed from thetime block the provider previously uploaded.

One embodiment of the scheduling system shows pending booking requestson providers' schedules before the provider accepts or declines thebooking request. Accordingly, other requestors will be able to see thata specific provider may not be available at a certain time, but willalso have the option of viewing that provider's schedule at a later timeto determine if the provider has accepted or declined the previouslypending booking request and act accordingly. The scheduling system mayinclude a search filter such that requestors may query all providers'time blocks on the database but view only certain results based onseveral factors, including but not limited to a specific provider orgroup of providers, provider location, preferred date of service, etc.

The scheduling system may be configured to allow a requestor to modifyan accepted booking request. If the requestor chooses to modify anaccepted booking request, the scheduling system 10 may be configured toalert the provider in any suitable manner, including but not limited toa telephone call, an electronic mail message, a wireless message, a textmessage, and/or any combinations thereof. The scheduling system maylimit the window in which a requestor is allowed to modify an acceptedbooking request. For example, in one embodiment of the scheduling systemthe requestor may modify an accepted booking request any time up to twohours before the start of the booking request, after which time thebooking request may not be changed. Such modifications include but arenot limited to cancelling the booking request in its entirety andchanging the date, time, and/or duration of the booking request. If abooking request is modified, the scheduling system may automaticallynotify the provider of same in any suitable manner, including but notlimited to a telephone call, an electronic mail message, a wirelessmessage, a text message, and/or any combinations thereof The providerthen arrives at the specified place at the specified time and date andprovides the services asked for by the requestor.

The scheduling system may also be configured to include a messagingsystem via a web-based application. In such an embodiment, providers andrequestors may be able to communicate with one another via electronicmessages for certain reasons including but not limited to bookingrequests, time blocks, modifications, etc. Such an embodiment of ascheduling system may also be configured so that the provider orrequestor will receive automatic notification when another party (i.e.,provider or requestor) is attempting to communicate with that party viathe web-based application. The scheduling system may automaticallynotify the provider of same in any suitable manner, including but notlimited to a telephone call, an electronic mail message, a wirelessmessage, a text message, and/or any combinations thereof.

The scheduling system may be configured to include a reminder function.For example, if a provider has accepted a booking request, the providermay indicate that the provider wishes to receive a reminder of thebooking request at a predetermined time before the booking request is tobegin (e.g., one week, one day, etc.). The same functionality may beprovided to remind the requestor of a specific booking request, and bothreminder functions may be set and/or adjusted by the provider and/orrequestor via the web-based application.

The scheduling system may work in cooperation with a payment system. Thepayment system may be generally configured to compile each provider'swages for a given period of time (e.g., two weeks, one month, etc.) anddisperse the appropriate wages at a specified time (e.g., the last dayof the month, the fifteenth of each month, etc.). Additionally thepayment system may be configured to compile each requestor's charges fora given period of time and add those charges to a billing statement. Thepayment system may work in tandem with the scheduling system and beaccessible through the same channels and in the same manner such thatthe two systems are fully integrated with one another. For example, thepayment system and scheduling system may be integrated into one computerprogram residing on a single machine that is accessible via a web-basedcomputer application.

In conjunction with one embodiment of the scheduling system, the paymentsystem may be configured to that the provider may adjust the duration,scope, and/or other parameters of a booking request after the completionthereof to create a completed booking request. For example, if timerequired to complete the services was longer than the requestororiginally expected when the requestor made the booking request, thecompleted booking request may be configured to reflect that fact.Additionally, allowing the provider to create a completed bookingrequest allows the provider and requestor to account for a change inscope of the services, which change in scope may require additional timenot accounted for in the original booking request. For example, incertain situations the provider may account for travel time in acompleted booking request.

The scheduling and payment systems may also be configured to allow theprovider to create a personal notification for the requestor when theprovider creates a completed booking request. The notification mayinclude any pertinent data, including but not limited to notes relatedto any time adjustments in the booking request, personal messages, etc.The notification may also include a short questionnaire to solicitfeedback of any kind, including but not limited to feedback relating tothe specific provider and/or the scheduling system.

The payment system may then add the hours in the completed bookingrequest to the wages payable to that particular provider, and add thosehours to the charges accrued to the particular requestor in thatrequestor's billing statement. The payment system may be configured sothat the rate of the provider is determined before the requestor makes abooking request. The provider's pay may be based on any acceptableincrement, including by not limited to hourly, weekly, monthly, and/oron a per-project basis. Additionally, the provider's pay may bedifferent at different times of a booking request, depending on theservices and/or embodiment of the scheduling system. Predetermining theprovider's payment for a specific booking request and integrating thescheduling system with the payment system allows all funds to beexchanged electronically after the provider has created a completedbooking request rather than physically between the requestor andprovider at the location at which the provider performs the services.Furthermore, a portion of the provider's rate may be withheld for otherpurposes, including but not limited to overhead, profit, insurance,and/or combinations thereof.

A requestor may be invoiced at any time for the charges accrued in therequestor's billing statement, although it is contemplated that it willbe most convenient to invoice the requestors on a bi-weekly or monthlybasis, which invoicing the scheduling and payment systems may performautomatically. For example, the scheduling and payment systems may beconfigured to deliver an electronic invoice to each requestor in anysuitable manner, including but not limited to a telephone call, anelectronic mail message, a wireless message, a text message, and/or anycombinations thereof. The scheduling and payment systems may beconfigured to then automatically deduct that invoice amount from a bankaccount on file, charge a credit card on file, or collect the invoiceamount in any other suitable manner. Additionally, the payment systemmay automatically add a processing fee to each invoice to account forother costs, including but not limited to credit card processing fees,administration, office personnel, and/or combinations thereof.

One embodiment of the scheduling system may also allow requestors tocreate long-term booking requests. In a long-term booking request, therequestor asks a specific provider to commit to a consist schedule. Therequestor may create a long-term booking request in a similar manner towhich the requestor creates a booking request, which may or may notinclude specific hours for each date in the long-term booking request.If the long-term booking request does not include specific hours foreach date, and the provider accepts the request, then each date in therequest will be communicated to both the requestor and provider. Eachindividual date within the long-term booking request may then bemodified or canceled in the manner previously described for regularbooking requests. Accordingly, long-term booking requests mitigate anyscheduling problems that may arise when a provider has committed toperform services for a specific requestor on a regular or semi-regularbasis, but the requestor knows only the approximate times for thoseservices. The time basis for long-term booking requests may be weekly,monthly, yearly, or any other increment that is suitable for theparticular services.

One embodiment of the scheduling system may also include introductionrequests. In such an embodiment instead of creating a booking request,the requestor may create an introduction request for a specificprovider. The provider may be notified about the introduction request inthe same manner as the provider is notified of a booking request. Theintroduction request may give the provider the same or differentinformation as a booking request, which may include but is not limitedto the requestor's preferred contact method. The requestor and providermay then coordinate to meet one another so that the requestor maypersonally approve the provider prior to the provider performing anyservices for the requestor.

One embodiment of the scheduling system includes a payment system thatmay also include referral credits. In such an embodiment a requestor mayrefer another potential requestor to the scheduling system (in oneembodiment the referral is achieved via sharing the URL for theweb-based application that provides the graphic user interface for thescheduling and/or payment systems). When registering for access to thescheduling and/or payment systems, the referred requestor may indicatethe name of the referring requestor. The payment system may thenautomatically credit the referring requestor's account by a certainamount, which may appear as a credit on that requestor's next invoice.

The scheduling and/or payment systems may also include a revocationpolicy for any requestor and/or provider for any reason. For example, inone embodiment a provider's access to the scheduling and/or paymentsystems may be revoked upon the provider's cancellation of a certainnumber of booking requests.

Detailed Description of a Childcare Embodiment of a Scheduling andPayment System

One specific embodiment of a scheduling and payment system for childcareservices will now be described. In this embodiment, the scheduling andpayment system is configured to be deployed via a computer (e.g.,mainframe, server, etc.) that is accessible via a web portal configuredas a website. However, this description is in no way limits the scope ofthe scheduling system and/or or payment system and is simply intended tobetter illustrate the broader concepts disclosed and claimed herein.

In an embodiment of the scheduling and payment systems configured foruse with childcare, the providers may be childcare providers and therequestors may be individuals and/or families desiring childcare. First,suitable childcare providers may be selected through a vetting process,which may include background checks, credit checks, personal referrals,etc. to determine whether an individual is a suitable childcareprovider. The childcare provider may be required to sign an agreementspecifying certain terms for conduct, behavior, etc., which agreementmay also specify that the childcare providers are independentcontractors rather than employees of an entity maintaining thescheduling and/or payment systems.

After a suitable childcare provider has been identified, the childcareprovider may be granted access to a website onto which the childcareprovider may upload a block or blocks of time during which the childcareprovider is available to perform childcare services. The childcareprovider may be required to agree to certain terms and conditions toaccess and use the website. Additionally, childcare providers may needto provide personal information to use the website, such as address,name, birth date, social security number, etc. Each childcare providermay receive a unique username and password to allow multiple childcareproviders to upload their schedules onto the website. It is contemplatedthat childcare providers will be screened and interviewed prior togranting them access website. Additionally, it is contemplated that thewebsite will allow childcare providers to create personal profiles onthe website that may include but is not limited to pictures, videos,qualifications, personal info, and/or contact information. The websitemay allow childcare providers to continually modify available hours(i.e., blocks of time). The website may also allow childcare providersto upload certain blocks of time for certain geographic areas. Forexample, if the childcare provider is a college student attending acollege in a first city, the childcare provider may upload a firstplurality of blocks of time specifically for that first city and asecond plurality of blocks of time for a second city that is thechildcare provider's hometown to accommodate holidays and the like.

Parents (i.e., requestors) may register at the same website to view theschedules of the childcare providers in one or more geographic areas.Parents may be required to agree to certain terms and conditions toaccess and use the website. Additionally, parents may need to providepersonal information to use the website, such as address, name, birthdate, social security number, credit card information, etc. Once aparent has properly registered to use the website, the parent may viewthe schedules that the childcare providers have uploaded. The websitemay display the hours that various childcare providers are available inany suitable manner. For example, parents may choose a specificchildcare provider and view all hours in which that childcare provideris available. Alternatively, parents may choose a specific date and viewall childcare providers that are available on that date. The parent maythen select a specific childcare provider for a specific time to createa booking request. The website may then be configured to automaticallyalert the childcare provider of the booking request via an email,telephone call, text message, etc. The alert may also include the namesof the parents and children, the address of the parents, the ages of thechildren, and/or the time and date of the booking request.

After the childcare provider receives the booking request, the childcareprovider may either accept or decline it through logging into thewebsite. The website may automatically alert the parent to the childcareprovider's choice either way via text message, email, telephone, etc. Ifthe childcare provider has declined the booking request, the parent maythen select the same time and date for a different childcare providerwhose schedule indicates availability. The alert the parent receiveswhen a childcare provider declines a booking request may also includecontact information for a manager or administrator overseeing thescheduling and payment systems for that specific geographic area.

If the childcare provider has accepted the booking request, the parentmay modify the booking request before the booking request starts. Insome embodiments the website will allow modification of booking requestonly up to a certain time before the booking request is scheduled tostart, such as up to 30 minutes before the start time. If the parentmodifies the booking request, the website automatically alerts thechildcare provider of the modification via an email, telephone call,text message, etc. The alert may also include an explanation of thereason for modification. The website may be configured to automaticallyprompt a childcare provider to either delete the hours of availabilityin a time block(s), update, and/or change the hours of availabilitydepending on whether the childcare provider has accepted or declined thebooking request, or if other circumstances have arisen.

The website may also indicate that a booking request is pending for aspecific childcare provider during the time between the moment theparent creates the booking request but before the childcare provider haseither accepted or declined it. Accordingly, other parents will be ableto see that a specific childcare provider may not be available at acertain time, but other parents will also have the option of viewingthat childcare provider's schedule at a later time to determine if thechildcare provider has accepted or declined the previously pendingbooking request and act accordingly (i.e., look for another childcareprovider that is available during that time or create their own bookingrequest for the childcare provider who previously had a pending bookingrequest during the desired time but subsequently declined it).

As described above, certain embodiments of the scheduling system includethe ability for requestors to create long-term booking requests. In achildcare embodiment of the scheduling system, the website may provide alink keyed to a specific childcare provider for creating a long-termbooking request. When creating a long-term booking request, the parentmay indicate, among other things, the recurring days of the week,approximate duration, approximate times on each day, number of children,and add any special comments. The website may then automatically notifythat specific childcare provider of the long-term booking request aspreviously described for regular booking requests. If the childcareprovider accepts the long-term booking request, then the childcareprovider may appear unavailable to other parents on the dates specifiedin the request. Additionally, on the parent's account on the website thedates appear as accepted booking requests for that specific childcareprovider. Each individual date within the long term booking request maythen be modified or canceled in the manner previously described forregular booking requests. Accordingly, one function of long-term bookingrequests is to mitigate any scheduling problems that may arise due to achildcare provider appearing available on the website to other parentswhen in fact that childcare provider is not available. The time basisfor long-terms booking requests may be weekly, monthly, yearly, or anyother increment that is suitable for the particular services.

A childcare embodiment of the scheduling and payment systems may alsoinclude an introduction request, as previously described. In thechildcare embodiment, such functionality may be implemented by allowingparents to create introduction requests for specific childcareproviders. The website may then automatically notify the childcareprovider about the introduction request in the same manner as thechildcare provider is notified of a booking request. The introductionrequest may give the childcare provider the same or differentinformation as a booking request, which may include but is not limitedto the parent's name and address, number of children, contactinformation, and/or preferred contact method. The parent and childcareprovider may then coordinate to meet one another so that the parent maypersonally approve the childcare provider prior to the childcareprovider performing any services for the parent.

A childcare embodiment of the scheduling and payment systems may alsoinclude the ability for parents to create booking requests that includeovernight hours. It is contemplated that the rates for overnight hoursmay be different for daytime hours, and that a booking request thatincludes overnight hours will be adjusted accordingly upon predeterminedconditions. For example, in one embodiment the hours between 10 pm and 7am the next day may be considered overnight hours and therefore have adifferent charge associated therewith than hours between 7:01 am and9:59 pm on the same day. Alternatively, the adjustment for differentrates may be done in the completed booking request. The booking requestsmay allow a childcare provider to indicate whether he/she is able toprovide tutoring during specified hours of childcare, which may alsohave a different rate associated therewith.

A childcare embodiment of the scheduling and payment systems may alsoinclude the ability for parents to create a transport booking request.It is contemplated that this will primarily be used by parents ofchildren whose children do not need supervision while at home, but whosechildren do not have a license to drive. A transport booking request mayinclude (in addition to the information previously described for aregular booking request) the pick-up and drop off times and locations.It is contemplated that different charges will apply to transportrequests, and that the charges may be calculated differently or inaddition to other childcare service charges.

A childcare embodiment of the scheduling and payment systems may alsoinclude the ability for parents to create a last-minute booking request.In this situation, the website may allow the parent to indicate that thebooking request is a last-minute booking request (for example, bychecking a box on the website during the creation of the bookingrequest). Designating a booking request as a last-minute booking requestmay require the childcare provider to accept or decline the bookingrequest via telephone, text message, or other expedient mode ofcommunication.

In this embodiment, the childcare provider arrives at the specifiedlocation on the specified date at the specified time (all of which datais dependent on the booking request). The childcare provider thencompletes the services (i.e., watching the parent's children). Thechildcare provider may then log onto the website and change the bookingrequest to a completed booking request. At this point, the childcareprovider may be allowed to adjust the duration of the booking request toaccurately reflect the amount of time the childcare provider waswatching the parent's children. The adjustment may also account fortravel time to and from the childcare location. Additionally, theprovider may adjust the total charges in the completed booking requestdue to changes in the number of children present for certain hours ofthe booking request. For example, the booking request may indicate thattwo children will be present from 8 am to 5 pm—the entire bookingrequest. However, during the performance of the childcare services, anadditional child may arrive home from school at 3 pm, for example, suchthat for two hours of the booking request three children are present.The scheduling and payment methods may allow the childcare provider toaccount for this in the completed booking request.

The childcare provider may also include a personal note to the parent inthe completed booking request. Once the provider has created completedbooking request, the website may automatically alert the parent that thespecific booking request has been completed. This may be done via anemail, telephone call, text message, etc. This alert may also notify theparent as to the amount charged to the parent's account due to thecompleted booking request, and the total charges accrued to the parent'saccount since the last invoice. The alert may also give the parent amethod to ask questions as to any discrepancies between the bookingrequest and the completed booking request. Finally, the alert mayinclude a short survey and/or questionnaire. The subject matter of thesurvey and/or questionnaire may include but is not limited to thespecific childcare provider and quality if his/her service, childcarepreferences, the website, and general information related to parentingor children. The website may forward the survey results to an areamanager, supervisor, or administrator of the scheduling and paymentsystem. Parents may also have the ability to make notes on their accountfor reminders related to specific childcare providers (e.g., “Jane wasvery good with our toddlers,” or “Jane cleaned the kitchen during hershift”).

The website may indicate to parents the cost for each childcare provideron any reasonable basis, including but not limited to per hour or perjob. Furthermore, the cost may be different depending on the number ofchildren the childcare provider is required to watch. For example, thecost may be $9/hour for one child, $10/hour for two children, and$11/hour for three or more children. However, the costs may change ondifferent dates and/or be dependent on geographic location. For example,the cost per hour may be higher on holidays or on days when local eventsof import occur. It is contemplated that each childcare provider'scalendar may have a color code to indicate days on which the costs areother than what the normal costs would be. The website may automaticallytally the charges for a given parent's account since the last paymentthe parent made. The website may also automatically tally the wagesaccrued for a given childcare provider since the last payment sent tothe childcare provider.

The website may automatically generate an invoice to all registeredparents at a predetermined time (e.g., weekly, monthly, etc.) or upon apredetermined condition (e.g., accrued wages are greater than a certainamount). The website may also automatically generate a payment to thechildcare provider at a predetermined time (e.g., weekly, monthly, etc.)or upon a predetermined condition (e.g., accrued wages are greater thana certain amount). The set pricing and automatic invoicing for parentsand automatic payment for childcare providers eliminates the awkwardnessfor parents in determining how much to pay the childcare provider andthe awkwardness for the childcare provider in collecting money afterperforming the childcare services. Furthermore, the automatic invoicingand payment are more convenient for both the parents and the childcareproviders. The website may be configured to store a certain number ofprevious invoices for easy retrieval, review, and/or printing byparents, and it may store a certain number of wage statements for easyretrieval, review and/or printing by childcare providers.

The website may also automatically update all childcare providers' hoursat a specific time. For example, on the first day of a month, thewebsite may automatically clear all booking requests for the previousmonth that have no correlating completed booking request. In such anembodiment, the website may automatically notify all childcare providersand/or parents that all booking requests need to have a correlatingcompleted booking request created within a specific time (e.g., withinthe next 24 hours) or the hours accountable to booking requests withoutcorrelating completed booking requests will not be paid to thecorresponding childcare providers. This notification may be made in anysuitable manner, including but not limited to a telephone call, anelectronic mail message, a wireless message, a text message, and/or anycombinations thereof. Alternatively, the website may automatically rollover booking requests for the previous month that have no correlatingcompleted booking request into the next month.

The website employing the scheduling and/or payment systems may alsoinclude a referral system for parents. For example, when a parentregisters on the website for the first time, the parent may be presentedwith the opportunity to enter the name and/or other information aboutthe party who referred him/her. The website may then automaticallycredit the referring parent's account by a specific amount (e.g., onefree hour of childcare).

It is contemplated that a portion of each childcare provider's paymentsmay be reserved so as to create a stream of revenue for the entity thatmaintains the website. This may be a percentage of the overall paymentsor a monthly fee for granting parents and/or childcare providers accessto the website. Additionally, it is contemplated that the entirescheduling and payment systems may be completely automated, such thatboth systems may be computer-executable methods accessible as web-basedapplications. Alternatively, other means may be used within the scope ofthe present systems and/or methods. For example, a wide area network(WAN) may be established between providers and requestors, or differentmobile computing technology may be used.

The website may also be configured to include an administrator interfacethat is accessible only to authorized individuals. The administratorinterface may allow those individuals to review all childcare providers,registered parents, booking requests, and/or completed booking requestsfor specific childcare provides and/or a specific geographic area. Theadministrator interface may allow authorized individuals to: (1) createbooking requests and/or completed booking requests and/or modify same onbehalf of parents; (2) send mass communications (e.g., electronic mail,text messages, etc.) to specific parents, childcare providers, and/orgroups of parents and/or groups of childcare providers with specificinformation (e.g., updates, announcements, etc.); (3) change rates forchildcare services; (4) view and respond to parent and/or childcareprovider surveys; (5) deactivate childcare provider accounts or add newchildcare provider accounts; (6) view financial information for specifictime period related to specific geographic area; (7) organize childcareproviders and parents seeking long-term booking requests; (8) organizewhich parents provide a good fit for which childcare providers; (9)organize childcare providers based on survey feedback (e.g., rewards forcertain positive reviews, penalties for negative reviews); and/or (10)organize parent accounts based on registration date and/or other factors(e.g., average hours purchased per month, average completed bookingrequest duration).

Detailed Description of an Eldercare Embodiment of a Scheduling andPayment System

One specific embodiment of a scheduling and payment system for eldercareservices will now be described. However, this description is in no waylimiting and is simply intended to better illustrate the broaderconcepts disclosed herein.

An eldercare embodiment of a scheduling and payment system may beconfigured in substantially the same manner as the childcare embodimentpreviously described. However, in this embodiment the provider would bean eldercare provider, and the requestor would be an individual seekingeldercare rather than childcare. Eldercare providers may be grantedaccess to the website to upload available times, and requestors could begranted access to the website to create booking requests for specificeldercare providers.

Rates for various services may be predetermined in a manner similar tothat described for the childcare embodiment. These rates may be anhourly charge, based on the services the eldercare provider willperform, or based on some other metric. Accordingly, the requestorpayment and the provider wages may be entirely automated.

Detailed Description of a Lawncare Embodiment of a Scheduling andPayment System

One specific embodiment of a scheduling and payment system for lawn careservices will now be described. However, this description is in no waylimiting and simply intended to better illustrate the broader conceptsdisclosed herein.

A lawn care embodiment of a scheduling and payment system may beconfigured in substantially the same manner as the childcare embodimentpreviously described. However, in this embodiment the provider would bea lawn care provider, and the requestor would be an individual seekinglawn care rather than childcare. Lawn care providers may be grantedaccess to the website to upload available times, and requestors could begranted access to the website to create booking requests for specificlawn care providers.

Rates for various services may be predetermined in a manner similar tothat described for the eldercare embodiment. Accordingly, the requestorpayment and the provider wages may be entirely automated.

This scheduling and payment system may be used for any type of services,including but not limited to tutoring, companionship, mentoring, generalhousehold chores, cleaning, maintenance, auto repair, painting, medicalcare, and/or combinations thereof. Accordingly, the specific embodimentsdisclosed herein are in no way limiting to the scope of the schedulingsystem and/or payment system.

The preceding constraints, examples, and configurations in any of theembodiments disclosed and described herein are for illustrative purposesonly, and are in no way limiting to the scope of any of the systemsand/or methods as disclosed and claimed herein. Furthermore, the varioussolutions, processes, methods, modules, web-based applications,websites, and/or embodiments disclosed or described herein may beimplemented in conjunction with one another or independently from oneanother. Accordingly, the presence or absence of other subject matterthat may be complementary to the present systems and/or methods in noway limits the scope of the present systems and/or methods.

It should be noted that the present systems and/or methods are notlimited to the specific embodiments described herein, but is intended toapply to all similar systems and/or methods for scheduling a serviceprovider and/or making payment to a service provider. Modifications andalterations from the described embodiments will occur to those skilledin the art without departure from the spirit and scope of the presentsystems and/or methods.

1. A method of generating income, said method comprising, by one or morecomputer systems: a. providing a database residing on a computer-basedserver onto which a provider may upload a time block, wherein saiddatabase may be remotely accessed via a computing device having Internetconnectivity; b. allowing a requestor to view said time block via asecond computing device; c. said requestor selecting a portion of saidtime block so as to create a booking request; d. alerting said providerof said booking request; e. said provider accepting said bookingrequest; f. alerting said requestor of said provider's acceptance ofsaid booking request; g. said provider performing a certain task duringsaid booking request; h. allowing said provider to input an actualduration of said booking request into said database after said providerhas performed said certain task; i. said provider denoting in saiddatabase that said booking request is complete; j. adding said actualduration to a record keyed to said provider; k. adding said actualduration to a billing statement keyed to said requestor; and, l.retaining a specific portion of said billing statement.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1 further comprising the step of verifying saidactual duration with said requestor after the step of said providerdenoting in said database that said booking request is complete.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the alerting step further comprisesindicating to said provider the name, address, phone number, and emailaddress of said requestor.
 4. The method according to claim 1 whereinsaid method further comprises the step of updating said time block aftersaid provider accepts said booking request.
 5. The method according toclaim 1 further comprising the step of sending said billing statement tosaid requestor.
 6. The method according to claim 1 further comprisingcharging said requestor an amount based on said billing statement.
 7. Ascheduling and payment method comprising, by one or more computersystems: a. providing a database residing on a computer-based serveronto which a provider may upload a time block, wherein said database maybe remotely accessed via a computing device having Internetconnectivity; b. allowing a requestor to view said time block via asecond computing device; c. said requestor selecting an increment ofsaid time block so as to create a booking request; d. alerting saidprovider of said booking request; e. said provider accepting saidbooking request; f. alerting said requestor of said provider'sacceptance of said booking request; and, g. said provider performing acertain task during said booking request; h. allowing said provider toinput an actual duration of said booking request into said databaseafter said provider has performed said certain task; i. said providerdenoting in said database that said booking request is complete; j.adding said actual duration to a record keyed to said provider; k.adding said actual duration to a record keyed to said requestor; l.adding said actual duration to a billing statement keyed to saidrequestor; and, m. charging said requestor an specific monetary amountbased on said billing statement.